


Hearkening

by unwindmyself



Series: curious shapes shift in the dark [20]
Category: True Blood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Exposition, Fae & Fairies, Female Friendship, Fix-It, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Mentors, Reconnaissance, Sisters, agency and choices!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-05 09:25:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1092287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unwindmyself/pseuds/unwindmyself
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sookie and the girls consider some news from the outside world, then Sookie and Sam talk about cartoon ponies and it actually winds up serving a purpose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hearkening

**Author's Note:**

> Part three, "A Window Opens."

“I’ll have a margarita,” Braelyn says confidently, setting her menu down in front of her.  (She has no idea what they taste like, obviously, but it sounds cute.)

“Hell no, you won’t!” Arlene exclaims as she sweeps by the booth that’s more or less become the girls’ designated space.  “Don’t give any of them alcohol,” she instructs Sookie.

“I know, Arlene,” Sookie chuckles. _You should know better_ , she thinks, pointedly raising an eyebrow at the girls.

“I don’t think it’s fair we’ve gotta get babysat still,” Charlaine pouts.

Well, their daddy does have a habit of leaving them at Merlotte’s while he’s at work (and Arlene’s at work, and Terry’s at work, and Holly’s at work, and since all three of them except him work _at_ Merlotte’s it makes sense) and it’s not like it’s _too_ too busy otherwise so it can feel that way.

“Life ain’t fair,” Arlene says philosophically.

“I’m not gonna give y’all alcohol, but I could make virgin margaritas, at least,” Sookie offers.  “At least see if you sorta like the taste?”

“Yeah, okay,” Danika says, and she’s about to keep going when Adilyn interrupts, waving a hand and frowning.

“Ssh, just a second,” she mutters, and since the girls and Sookie can all read each other’s minds, she doesn’t even have to point out what she’s shushing for.

The troubling train of thought is coming from the next booth over; they all “hear” the words _New Orleans_ and _vampire attacks_ , so they can’t help but pay attention.  Even Sookie, who’s warned against it, is listening in.

The man they’re eavesdropping on doesn’t know much, but a gang of vampires led by some dark-haired fellow has been stalking and kidnapping all over the city.  There’s no telling if it’s the same bunch every time, but the leader seems constant.

That would be Bill.  Billith.  Whatever.  Obviously the guy doesn’t know that, but Sookie does and therefore the girls all do.

The man is some sort of minor government official, taking an extended vacation with his family – wife and two sons and a daughter, all around the table as well – until this shit all clears up.  They’re staying with his aunt here in Bon Temps, and Sookie feels bad, like she oughta at least tell him that this isn’t the safest alternative, probably.

And he doesn’t like vampires much, he’s had friends get killed by them, he doesn’t wanna be around them and really doesn’t want his family around them, but he also doesn’t wanna do what the governor’s starting to order be done to them, either.

He doesn’t go into the details, he doesn’t need to in his own internal monologue (he doesn’t know there are five fairies listening in on him for clues) but he says enough.

“Sookie?” Danika whispers.  “Should we…?”

 _Do something_ , she means.  About what the governor’s ordering.  She doesn’t know what to do, none of them really do, but it doesn’t sound right.

Sookie grimaces.  “I’ll go put your orders in,” she says.  _And call Tara_ , she adds.

The girls all nod, understanding.  “’Kay,” Charlaine agrees.  “Thanks.”  _And for knowing what to do, too._

* * *

 

“Sam?”

“Hey, Sookie, come in,” he says, even though she’s already doing that, closing his office door behind her.  “Everything okay out there?”

By _out there_ , he means both the bar and the world, and from the way she flops down in his leather chair, he can guess at the answer.

“It’s normal,” she says, which he also understands.  “You mind if I stay back here a minute?  I gotta give Tara a call.”

“You guys talkin’ again?” Sam asks, sounding enthusiastic about the prospect.

“It’s complicated,” Sookie sighs.  “Kinda.  For… practical reasons.  One thing at a time.”

“Okay,” he says, figuring he shouldn’t press (she’s glad he doesn’t).  “You can borrow the office as long as you need, it’s pretty slow tonight and anyway I was just heading out.  Just dropped in to grab some burgers to take back to Luna and Emma.”  He smiles crookedly.  “Emma decided we were gonna spend tonight watching _My Little Pony_.  You ever seen that?”

“I saw some of the toys at Wal-Mart once,” she replies.

“Emma’s been on a kick,” he continues.  “One of the ponies is named Luna, and she thinks it’s the greatest thing that her mom’s got the same name as a pony, especially since her mom can turn _into_ a pony if she wants.  Not one with wings, but still.”

“Adilyn told me one of the talking cats on _Sailor Moon_ is named Luna, too,” she offers.  “If she hasn’t seen that, it comes highly recommended from someone who was just her age a couple days ago.”

“Thanks for the tip,” Sam chuckles, standing and pulling on his jacket.  He gives Sookie, currently tugging the elastic band out of her hair and refastening it, a long look.  “Hey, you, c’mere.”

She hesitates just a moment, but she can’t help but grin before she walks into the bear hug that he’s got waiting for her.  “Thanks,” she mumbles. 

 _Thanks for understanding the weird-ass situation with Tara_ and _thanks for understanding the weird-ass situation with the whole world being led by my crazy ex_ and _thanks for being so good with Luna and Emma that I at least sorta believe that not all guys totally suck_ and _thanks for trying to have everyone’s backs through all this nonsense_ , all of it.  Sam doesn’t read minds, but Sam will understand that it at least means some of that.

“Of course,” he says, pressing her a little bit closer.  “We gotta stick together when things are fucked up, right?”

“Right,” she echoes.

“Just let me know if there’s anything I can do,” he tells her.  “Seriously.”

“I will,” she agrees.  “Right now, you just go on home and crawl onto the couch with your girlfriend and her daughter to eat burgers and watch cartoon ponies do – whatever it is that cartoon ponies do, okay?”

“They do a little bit of everything,” he says very seriously.  “They fly, they do magic, they sing songs, they look stuff up in old books –”

Suddenly Sookie’s eyes light up.  “Sam, you’re a genius,” she grins.

“Now, I know that’s not true,” he teases.

“Well, that’s what we’ve gotta do, though,” she exclaims.  “Look stuff up!  Tara said that’s what Nora had them doin’, we oughta try too.”

“What stuff?  And who’s Nora?” Sam asks, slightly overwhelmed.

“Vampire stuff, fairy stuff, I dunno yet,” Sookie shrugs.  “Don’t worry about it yet, ‘kay?  And Nora is Eric’s sister.”

“His... huh?”

“Vampire sister,” she explains in a rush.  “They had the same Maker.  It’s another one of those times where vampires are usin’ a human word to mean something kinda the same but also _really_ not.” 

Because from what she can see, Eric and Nora have a sibling kinda bond in a lot of ways but are also getting up to some stuff that’s definitely illegal for actual relatives and it’s considered totally okay for them.  It’s not _bad_ , just _different_.

“Oh,” he says.  “Huh.  Well, you just – you look up all that stuff, and you tell me if I can help somehow, even if I’m not a vampire or a fairy, okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” she returns.  “Now shoo.  We’ve got it under control here.”


End file.
